By Jasmine Gurung
There has been a shift in horror in recent years with filmmakers like Jordan Peele flipping the script and writing horror with fully fleshed out Black protagonists. In his work, Peele often depicts Black people being misled or tricked by their white counterparts, as in the modern classic Get Out (2017). His stories are radical, highlighting the scary reality of living as a Black person in America. This wave of revisionist Black horror has been seen before with blaxploitation horror movies made in the 1970s – a genre of films influenced by the Black Power movement and with predominantly African American casts. Although controversial for their representation of crime, the films make a point to lean into and reclaim stereotypes that the white media projected onto them.
Perhaps the most important actress in the blaxploitation genre, Pam Grier played the powerful heroines in Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974) – and inspired Tarantino’s Jackie Brown (1997). By taking on these roles, Grier challenged both the racial stereotypes and sexism that Black actresses faced at the time. In Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973), the sequel to Blacula (1972), she plays Lisa Fortier, the apprentice of the Voodoo queen, Mama Loa. Recognising her rare combination of intelligence, strength, and respect for the traditions of their craft, the dying queen chooses Lisa as her successor. Lisa goes through an empowering narrative arc that symbolises the passing of knowledge and responsibility between women, one generation to the next. Pam Grier is fantastic: her portrayal of Lisa is fearless and sexy, and she brings both beauty and resilience to the heroine. Carving her own mark onto a genre that was pioneering in its own right, Grier is an icon you should definitely watch on screen this Black History Month.
Further Black horror viewing for Halloween:
Scream Blacula Scream (1973) available on YouTube
Ganja & Hess (1973) available via Kanopy
Sugar Hill (1974) available via Internet Archive
Get Out (2017) available via Box of Broadcasts
Candyman (2021) available via Box of Broadcasts